Farmer Russell Pell on a bank of the Goulburn River within his farm, which he has decided to keep stock off for environmental reasons. Photo: Wayne Taylor

Large swathes of river frontage in Victoria is Crown land, but 17,000 kilometres of it is licensed to private operators.

Many of the licences go to farmers owning nearby property, allowing them to graze their cattle down to the edge of some of Victoria's most important rivers, including the Murray, Goulburn and Campaspe.

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Thousands of the five-year licences are up for renewal this year and environmentalists have urged the State Government not to reissue them because of the damage cows do to river bank ecosystems and water quality.

Russell Pell has a licence to graze his cattle down to the banks of Goulburn River north of Kyabram but, concerned for the river's health, he has all but stopped the practice.

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On a recent visit to the property, The Age witnessed nearby sections of the river that do not enjoy such considerate landlords.

These river banks were visibly broken up by the hard hooves of cattle and the enormous weights they carry. Voracious appetites have stripped the fringes of plants, leaving them devoid of the natural grasses that act like eyelashes for the river — catching the leaves and bark that can lead to water fouling.

"The stuff down on the water edge is really important, that stuff on the riparian (river bank) zone is like sacred ground. You must have root matter to hold ground together if water is going to run over it," Mr Pell said.

Cows create further problems by defecating, or even dying, in the rivers, increasing the risk of algal blooms and eroding water quality.

"You wash nutrients in with the cow dung, you wash nutrients that have been sitting in that soil for years, it all ends up in the river," Mr Pell said.

The fight against riverfront grazing was boosted last year when Sustainability Commissioner Ian McPhail used his landmark State of the Environment report to call for phasing out uncontrolled grazing on Crown river frontages.

He recommended the Government take action during this October's licence review, and Victorian National Parks Association spokesman Nick Roberts agreed, saying licences should be issued for conservation not grazing.

"Cattle along rivers is Third World management and continues to erode the health of our rivers. The potential water-quality impacts for human health are also a serious concern," he said.

But Victorian Farmers Federation spokesman Ian Lobban said grazing should continue on river frontages. "Who else is going to manage that land if not the adjoining landowners who are going to manage the weeds and so on?" he said. "There's no access to a lot of these frontages other than through private property."

Environment Minister Gavin Jennings said the Government planned to reissue most of the licences, but may consider setting aside high-priority stretches of river frontage for conservation projects.